Independent 10,738 by Morph (Saturday Puzzle 13 March 2021)

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Lots of fun and some clever clueing from Morph today…

This was just a lot of fun to solve – maybe not too difficult, but the top right quadrant was a little chewy. Lots of clever stuff in here – hard to pick a favourite, but you may notice my parsing below is full of exclamation marks, indicating my enjoyment as I re-parsed things for the blog.

If I had to choose, it would probably be the ‘it over IT’ of CYBERSEX, with the ‘CV-scanners’ from HR in THROB a close second!

LOI was the short and sweet ’12A Draw saw’ for BE HELD/BEHELD.

Things started to look a little Cyclops-ean, with BULGE, THROB, STIFF and CYBERSEX amongst the solutions, someone ‘falling out’ of their party dress at 21D and ‘something swelling lower down’ at 25D…not to mention the boxer ‘swinging both ways’ at 27A. Ooo-errr, Matron!

There was also a valedictory nod to ‘Donald’ and his ‘yellowish hue’ at 14A.

 

Many thanks to Morph, and hope all is clear below. (I’m not completely convinced by my explanations for 1A or 10A…)

 

Across
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1A GET ONES OWN BACK Exact revenge and look after number one? (3,4,3,4) exact revenge /
…or maybe a double defn? If you look after someone else, you might ‘have their back’. So if you look after number one, yourself, you might GET ONE’S OWN BACK’?
9A TAROT To desert, returning cards (5) (fortune telling) cards /
TO + RAT (desert) – all returning = TAROT
10A ROYAL BLUE The colour of blood? (5,4) colour (or CD?) /
I think this is using ‘the’ as meaning ‘superlative/best’…so the best blood might be the BLUE variety which supposedly flows in ROYAL, or aristocratic, veins?
11A CYBERSEX Activity for those preferring it over IT? (8) CD? /
Those who indulge in CYBERSEX could be described as preferring to have ‘it’ (sex), using, or over, IT (Information Technology)!
12A BEHELD Draw saw (6) saw /
in sport, or other games, you might BE HELD to a draw
14A OCHRE Donald’s expression of impatience about yellowish hue (5) yellowish hue /
OCH (Scottish, i.e. Donald’s, expression of impatience) + RE (about)
16A TOP-FLIGHT One spinning act of cowardice, perhaps, as high-class (3-6) high-class /
TOP (one spinning) + FLIGHT (act of cowardice, perhaps)
19A SET EYES ON See Rolling Stones outside Suffolk town (3,4,2) see /
SET _S ON (anag, i.e. rolling, of STONES) around EYE (market town in Suffolk)
20A NIECE Good to harness energy of member of younger generation (5) member of younger generation (to oneself) /
NI_CE (good) around (harnessing) E (energy)
21A GLOSSY She, perhaps, finds absence at the core of hollow man (6) ‘She’, perhaps /
G_Y (guy, man, hollowed out) with LOSS (absence) at its core
23A CENSORED Cut seed corn for threshing (8) cut /
anag, i.e. threshing, of SEED CORN
26A WEARINESS Fatigue of auditor having more than one drink around start of session (9) fatigue /
WEARINES (W_INES, more than one drink, around EAR, auditor) + S (starting letter of Session)
27A ALIBI Excuse of boxer swinging this way and that? (5) excuse /
ALI (Muhammad Ali, boxer) + BI (bi-sexual, swinging this way and that!)
28A CONFERENCE CALL 25 maybe designate party line (10,4) (multi-)party (telephone) line /
CONFERENCE (25, pear, maybe) + CALL (designate)
Down
Clue No Solution Clue Definition (with occasional embellishments) /
Logic/parsing
1D GET ACROSS Answer clue, but not this one? Explain (3,6) explain /
If you solve, or answer, an Across clue, i.e. not this Down one, then you might GET (an) ACROSS
2D THROB Beat automated programme set up with input from CV-scanners (5) beat /
T_OB (bot, or automated programme, set up) around (with input from) HR (Human Resources, aka personnel department, or CV scanners!)
3D NOTORIETY Bow tie grabbed by Labour supporter? Infamy! (9) infamy! /
NO TOR_Y (a Labour supporter would be ‘no Tory’!) around (grabbing) IET (anag, i.e. bow, of TIE)
4D SCREEN TEST Double check to determine who should be put in the picture (6-4) (activity) to determine who should be put in the picture /
SCREEN (check) + TEST (check), hence a double check!
5D WAYS Means of top-down influence (4) means /
SWAY (influence) with S (the top letter) going down to the bottom = WAYS
6D BULGE Listening device left in – note something sticking out (5) something sticking out /
BULG (BU_G, listening device, with L, left, in) + E (note)
7D COLLEAGUE Top and bottom marks separately gained by university fellow (9) fellow /
COLLE_G_E (university) with A (top mark) and U (unclassified, bottom mark) separately inserted, or gained
8D WEED Passed something in joint? (4) double defn /
if you passed something, i.e. water, then you WEED; and WEED could refer to a marijuana joint, m’lud
13D OPEN SEASON Main issue when hunting is permitted (4,6) when hunting is permitted /
OPEN SEA (the ‘main’, or high sea) + SON (issue, progeny)
15D HOT POTATO Weekend warriors in a stew over controversial issue (3,6) controversial issue /
HOT POTAT (HOT PO_T, stew, around TA, Territorial Army, or ‘weekend warriors’) + O (over)
17D LANDSCAPE Longer across than down lights on crossword allow puzzle enthusiast to start (9) longer across than down (opposite to ‘portrait’ format) /
LANDS (lights on) + CAPE (initial, or starting, letters, of ‘Crossword Allow Puzzle Enthusiast’)
18D TREADMILL Traditional philosopher embracing online mobile platform (9) mobile platform (that actually stays still!) /
TR_ADMILL (TRAD, traditional, plus MILL, John Stuart Mill, philosopher) around (embracing) E (e-, prefix indicating online activity)
21D GOWN Fall out of party dress (4) dress /
GO (DO)WN (fall, without, out of, DO – party)
22D STIFF Body suits taken up by female (5) (dead) body /
STIF (fits, or suits, taken up) + F (female)
24D RAITA Indian side seen in Andorra and Italy (5) Indian side (dish) /
if you bring Andorra and Italy together, hidden inside you will find ‘andorRA ITAly’!
25D PEAR Something swelling lower down plughole? (4) something swelling lower down (i.e. pear-shaped) /
P + EAR (lughole)!

 

17 comments on “Independent 10,738 by Morph (Saturday Puzzle 13 March 2021)”

  1. My goodness this was a challenge, including some quite complex parsing. However, it was extremely good, so well worth the effort.

    It doesn’t particularly bother me, but I thought the convention for clues like 25d was to indicate when a word needs separating in order to unravel the wordplay. It would have been quite easy in this case, e.g.: ”… lower down in split plughole”.

    How does “bow” work as anagram indicator in 3d?

    I’ve got a very long list of ticked clues: CYBERSEX, BEHELD, SET EYES ON, CONFERENCE CALL, THROB (I loved the “CV-scanners”!), HOT POTATO, TREADMILL, GOWN & STIFF.

    Many thanks to Morph and to mc_r.

  2. Enjoyed this. Took a while to parse GOWN & PEAR but got there in the end. Wasn’t entirely convinced by “be held” = “draw” but seems close enough.

  3. Thanks Morph and mc_r

    RD @ 1 The unindicated lift & separate as a device seems to appear relatively often these days – it’s certainly been used by Philistine and others in the graun stable.

  4. Very good, even if some of the parsing – for BEHELD, HOT POTATO, GOWN and PEAR – defeated me. Yes, a bit of naughtiness along the way too. Favourites were TREADMILL and especially the TOP FLIGHT CYBERSEX.

    Thanks to Morph and mc_rapper67 for explaining this all so well.

  5. Got off to a racing start with a 1ac solved from enumeration before I even set to work on the clue and then slowed right down before picking up momentum towards the end. Unlike Hovis, I didn’t parse either PEAR or GOWN which was disappointing.

    I saw a similarly risque theme in Tramp’s offering in the Guardian midweek – and it turned out not to be so we’ll have to see whether Morph drops in to confirm mc_r’s analysis – or whether, like me, our blogger has a salacious imagination.

    TREADMILL, LANDSCAPE, HOT POTATO, GLOSSY (brilliant misdirection), CONFERENCE CALL and, same favourite as our blogger, CYBERSEX all earned ticks from me today. Some quirky thinking throughout which made this a really enjoyable excursion.

    Thanks Morph and mc_rapper

  6. Nice to see Morph again but I do feel he’s upped the difficulty level in his absence!

    Lots to enjoy as usual

    Thanks to Morph and mc_rapper

  7. I must admit 1a put me off liking this crossword and left me quite critical of the clueing. I didn’t like one(s) appearing in clue and answer, either get your own back or look after yourself. And 11a seems to make more sense as IT over it (but perhaps didn’t want to be over insulting).

  9. Hahaha is my summary, didn’t get them all but really enjoyed the clueing , lots of favourites – I think CYBERSEX and THROB for the reasons previously mentioned, also PEAR although I got it from 28a as opposed to the clever clue. OPEN SEASON and SCREEN TEST don’t yet have a mention but I enjoyed them

    Like RabbitDave @1 I don’t understand “bow” as an anagram indicator

    Also I don’t get SHE (perhaps)=GLOSSY if anyone could explain?

    Thanks a lot to Morph and mc_rapper (who chose an excellent day to blog!)

  11. I feel that almost any word can be used as an anagram indicator by some. Here, I took “bow” as to “bend (out of shape)”. It worked for me, even if it is wrong.

  12. I thought our setter had definitely upped the difficulty with this one, took much longer to solve than I’d anticipated. Plenty to enjoy but I picked out perhaps easier ones for top places today – GET ONE’S OWN BACK, ROYAL BLUE and GET ACROSS winning the rosettes.

    Thanks to Morph and to mc rapper for the review.

  13. Sorry, Morph, this didn’t float our boat. Needed a wordfinder for CYBERSEX, BEHELD and GLOSSY and couldn’t parse the last-named which was totally impenetrable. Several others we couldn’t parse.
    Thanks, thouigh, to mc_rapper67 for the explanations

  15. Very pleased to get this finished! Fast out of the blocks but then hobbled over the finish line with 12A. Solved 25D backwards from 28A but love this clue.

  16. I struggled with this, but I am more appreciative after reading the blog. The puzzle reads like the diary of a disaffected on-line worker. Weariness, treadmill, conference call, stiff and then the attempts at solitary diversion.

  17. Thanks for all the comments and feedback – apologies for the lack of response…I have been out and about and busy all day…in a socially distanced and carer/support bubble sort of way…

    I can see the point of those who didn’t like 1A – my favourite thing about it was that it gave me lots of initial-letter crossers!

    I saw ‘bow’ in the same ‘bending’ sense as Hovis at #10, and was vaguely aware of ‘She’ as a glossy magazine in the Cosmo/Red genre.

    And I enjoyed Petert’s analysis at #16 – as someone approaching a year in solitary confinement (WFH in my study), I should have spotted those memes. And Postmark at #5, I will admit that the associated cabin fever can lead to a salacious mind… Even Simon S’s ‘lift and separate’ comment at #3 got me all hot and bothered!…

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